Rear Fj55 springs on FJ40

Post by **darrenfj40** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:16 am

I have purchased a rear set of FJ55 springs for my fj40 the only problem I have is that they have large eye as apposed to small eye on 77 model fj.
Does anyone now if I can sleeve the leaf spring eyes from 30mm to 25mm as to take small bushes and original pins
or do I have to purchase chassis mounts. If so where from in Sydney

Post by **Auto-Craft** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 2:17 pm

I used "81 on" chassis mounts on my 40 when I fitted 60 leaves all round, as the 60's are longer, I put the rear ones on 180 deg around, and the fronts chnaged to front fixed, and rear shackle, by drilling a hole in the chassis and inserting machined sleeves each side for the bushes to go into.

I also redrilled the centre bolt holes in the diffs to get the axles where I wanted them. We were trying to lengthen the wheelbase at the time, and ended up at 98", and we just moved the rear top mounts to the back of the tube x member to suit.

Post by **vk7ybi** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:23 pm

I know in USA people have used custom bushes to suit large spring eye and small pin, perhaps theres a source here for them too? If not, send me the 55 springs and find some 60 ones..

EDIT: Perhaps I shouldve read the post properly.. Are you sure theyre 55 springs? The reason to use 55 springs is they have the small eye to match the 40 eye and pins/bushes..

Post by **Sixty's Guy** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:23 pm

Pretty sure that FJ55's after from 1975 on (I think) had 30mm OD and 18mm ID bushes. Prior to that I think it may have been 25mm OD and 14mm ID, which I believe to be the same as the early 40 series. Late 40 series were the same as 60 series (35mm OD, 18mm ID).

Post by **uted1** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:33 pm

I've done this to my 40, and have the same problem.
my springs also have big pin. I'm sure i read somewhere ages ago that you can use early falcon bushes such as XA-C but the shoulder is thicker so you have to remove some material for them to fit the shackle. I haven't tried it myself yet, so if you try and it works let me know

Edit; I have seen the falcon bushes back when i had one, and if i recall correctly they are a large bush with a small pin size

Post by **croozy** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:19 pm

http://72.34.32.141/~snakerac/product_i ... 7c5309795e

Post by **Sixty's Guy** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:19 pm

The bushes off the rear eye of Datsun 200B Wagon rear springs should fit. They are 30mm OD, 16mm ID, 5.8mm Flange, 34.8mm total length. Whiteline Part # W71144. Double check these measurements with your existing bushes - should be pretty close.

Post by **Sixty's Guy** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:24 pm

croozy wrote:http://72.34.32.141/~snakerac/product_i ... 7c5309795e

Wouldn't they only solve part of the problem? Still need to make the springs fit at the fixed end and find the correct bushes to work.

Post by **darrenfj40** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:34 am

Measured the spring eye with a vernier and it measures 30mm.

It would be pretty good if those datsun 200B wagon bushes work. I will definately try to get to a parts store and have a look as it would be a easy solution

Post by **darrenfj40** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:04 am

Found this manual whilst searching on the internet for bushing dimensions.
Its the Bush Type Size Register for Whiteline.
I'll study this on weekend and try to pick the right one. What Bush does anyone else reckon is correct?

http://www.whiteline.com.au/Plus/pdf/WH ... GISTER.pdf

Post by **Sixty's Guy** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:35 pm

Thats where I found the bush for the 200B.

Post by **darrenfj40** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 6:53 am

Ok. I've managed to order a set of Bushes so I now need to get the springs ready.
So does anyone know what spring leafs should I remove to get good results with flex in mind. I currently have 9 leafs. I'd like to remove the bottom two at leased as they are straight and alot thicker than the rest.

Post by **Sixty's Guy** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:10 am

The general idea is that the long leafs are for lift and the short leaves are for load carrying. When I was playing around with the rear springs off my 55 I used a combination on the existing leafs and also some leaves out on the front of a 60 series 2" lifted pack. They are both symmetrical.

Post by **bj on roids** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:13 am

You can also buy a steel sleeve (most spring shops have them)

I have seen them, my 55 springs came with the steel sleeve pressed in, but because my 40 was post 1980 I had to hammer the sleeve out, sadly i turfed it in the bin. But I have seen plenty of them!

Post by **Sixty's Guy** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:45 am

The only problem with the sleeve is that the bush won't have a big enough shoulder, so the spring can move sideways over it. This is the problem that the OME Dakar 60 series springs have if you don't use the OME bushes - they have a mauch larger shoulder diameter than other brand bushes.

Post by **darrenfj40** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:35 am

Does anyone have experince with selection of leafs as I dont know which leaves to use. I have one set of fj40 and one set of fj55 rear leafs. Maybe a combination of two will give me what I want, which is good offroad but still drivable on road as I use as a daily drive.

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Rear Fj55 springs on FJ40

Rear Fj55 springs on FJ40

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